ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 94

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JULY 18, 1996

By Assemblymen KRAMER, Zisa, Assemblywoman Heck, Assemblyman Doria, Assemblywoman Buono, Assemblyman Pascrell and Assemblywoman Weinberg

A Concurrent Resolution memorializing Congress to recognize Jerusalem as an undivided city and the capital of Israel, and to move the United States Embassy to Jerusalem.

Whereas, Every nation in the world has the right to designate its capital, and Jerusalem is the seat of the Israeli Knesset and of the government ministries of the State of Israel; and

Whereas, For the Jewish people, and for the substantial pro-Israel community in the United States, the status of Jerusalem as Israel's capital is not negotiable, and an explicit declaration of United States policy on Jerusalem to this effect would win the support and appreciation of the American pro-Israel community; and

Whereas, None of the nations that conquered Jerusalem, Byzantium, the Arabs from the Peninsula, the Crusaders, the Mamelukes, the Ottoman Turks, Britain, nor Jordan, ever saw it as the birthplace of their nation or the central shrine of their faith, nor did they ever seek to make it their national or religious capital; and

Whereas, For the Jewish people, Jerusalem has been both the political and spiritual capital of the nation, and has been the focus of national or religious learning since the fall of the second commonwealth; and

Whereas, Jerusalem has had a Jewish majority for the majority of this century, and those who argue that the West Bank and Gaza should have an Arab political destiny because their population is overwhelmingly Arab are on poor ground when they forget the majority principle in Jerusalem; and

Whereas, Jerusalem's location is strategically critical, as it rests atop a plateau from which the entire Sahron plain to the west and the Jordan Rift Valley to the east can be monitored, and to divide the city and place it under Arab control would be to threaten the very nerve center of the country; and

Whereas, In practice, Jerusalem serves as the capital of Israel for diplomatic purposes, and ambassadors to Israel present their credentials in Jerusalem and presidential state visits are officially welcomed in Jerusalem; and

Whereas, Many other countries currently maintain embassies in Jerusalem; and

Whereas, A Congressional declaration regarding Jerusalem would merely be a reaffirmation of this de facto acceptance of Jerusalem's status as Israel's capital; now, therefore,

    Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):

    1. The Congress is memorialized to recognize Jerusalem as an undivided city and the capital of Israel, and to move the United States Embassy to Jerusalem.

    2. Duly authenticated copies of this concurrent resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and the President of the Senate and attested by the Clerk of the General Assembly and the Secretary of the Senate, shall be transmitted to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Vice President of the United States and each of the members of Congress elected from this State.

STATEMENT

    This resolution memorializes Congress to recognize unified Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the United States Embassy to that city.

Memorializes Congress to recognize Jerusalem as an undivided city and the capital of Israel and to move the United States embassy there.